A Niche To Scratch

I’m happy to say I’ll be keeping my communities established with Ning at Ning. The pricing plan is better than it was before and I’m excited about the differences. Currently I’m paying more than I will be, which is awesome.

MomsWithMS.com will be at the middle tier as we have over 400 members there and so that is the best option for now.

SeattleUrbanGarden.com will be at the lowest level until we get the promotion and site built up more.

SeattleHipMamas.com will also be at the lowest level until we get the promotion and site built up more.

Over all I think it makes sense especially since the lowest covers up to 150 members for only $2.95 according to their sneak preview…so it’s hardly an expense if you have any kind of sponsorship at all, plus it includes ad revenue from the google ads so if your SEO is up to par, it is all good.

After Laying Off 40% of It’s Workforce Ning Says Things Will Be Different

Yesterday after getting an email from my husband, who had gotten an inquiry from one of his colleagues about the ‘changes’ at Ning, I didn’t pay much attention. Said colleague was asking about alternatives to Ning because they were going to be charging soon, my assumption was that this was likely the result of going over bandwidth or something of that nature.

I was surprised later when I got the link to the creators community where the announcement was clear as day… no more free communities. More news to be released over the next two weeks, free community creators will have the opportunity to upgrade to an undisclosed payment plan or will have to begin their transition elsewhere.

Many of the replies to the thread where the announcement was made are full of anger, many creators have spent hundreds of hours creating their environments, others are bummed but acknowledge that it probably makes sense as a business decision. There are even some who have created many communities, over 20 in some cases, and their frustration about how quickly even a small amount would add up is understandable.

Most of the comments come to the same conclusion though, they are asking the question, “How much will it be.”, and this has not yet been disclosed.

As a Ning Community Creator I am hoping it isn’t too much, I have about 4 different communities the largest of which has an international membership spanning 6 countries bringing moms who have Multiple Sclerosis together. My hope is that the small premium fees I pay will be enough to keep it going, but I’m doing my research just in case.

Sources:

http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/ning-update?xg_source=msg_com_forum&id=4244211%3ATopic%3A151365&page=1#comments

http://www.fastcompany.com/1618615/5-things-ning-got-right

Moms with MS is an online community created in July of 2009

One recent niche that I have just started scratching the surface of is that of Mothers who are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It is one of those demographics that upon doing some research seemed almost painfully obvious as an under-represented group. Most people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis are women who are between the ages of 20-40 years old, years described as being the fertile years of a woman’s life! All of these woman either have kids, want kids, or have consciously decided they do not want kids and are taking actions to avoid getting pregnant. Upon doing some basic user research, I found that most sites that cater to those diagnosed with this chronic illness group these women along with parents whose children have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, which is a VERY different demographic. Out of this research, http://www.MomsWithMS.com was born! From the lovely letters I have received since launching this site in July of 2009 it is clear that it was needed in so many ways and that the mothers who have joined the site have access to what other moms have researched, experienced, learned, heard about and more regarding pregnancy, nursing, childrearing, relationships, diet, medications and so much more!

So what is the niche that you have on your mind that you know just needs to be scratched? Have you started researching it? Are you going to build a community? A wiki page to spread knowledge? Blog?